Web hosting services allow individuals and institutions to access websites on the internet. A web hosting provider is a business that provides the necessary technology and infrastructure to store and share websites on the internet. So, what about web hosting in South Africa?
South Africa launched its first website in 1991. As of 2021, nearly half of the small enterprises in South Africa already have websites, while a little over 90% of the more prominent firms have an internet presence. E-commerce, boosted by mobile internet, has further revolutionized businesses in South Africa, enabling expansion beyond location, sales growth, and business competition.
In recognition of this development, we have selected the finest web hosting services for South Africans. We evaluated the affordability, range of services, performance, customer support, and ease of use of these service providers. Our list comprises the best seven web hosting providers capable of meeting the diverse demands of South African customers at an affordable rate.
The Top Web Hosting Providers In South Africa
- HostArmada – Best Web Hosting Overall
- IONOS – Easy-to-use Website Builder
- HostGator – Best VPS Hosting for Scalability
- Cloudways – Top Dedicated Cloud Hosting
- FastComet – Best Web Hosting Overall
- A2 Hosting – Fastest Web Hosting with Turbo Services
- Hostinger – Best Shared Web Hosting
The Best Web Hosting Services in South Africa 2023 (Bought and Tested)
HostArmada is ahead of other hosting services on the list. Powered by cloud-based technology, it provides outstanding and reliable solutions tailored for all web hosting needs. They offer an uptime rate of 99.9%, 24/7 customer support, 9+ global servers, an affordable price, and fast speed, among other outstanding features.
- Overall score: 5
- Features – 5
- Support – 5
- User-friendliness - 5
- Pricing – 5
- Reliability – 5
Features – 5: HostArmada’s range of features includes hassle-free web migration, free SSL services on all plans, daily backups, cloud-based SSD storage, the latest PHP & MySQL versions to power up your web, free Dos/DDoS Protection, and free malware scanning.
Support – 5: Clients who wish to contact HostArmada’s customer support have various options for getting through with their requests. Support from live chat, phone, email contact, or online ticketing options is always available for customers.
User-friendliness - 5: HostArmada’s hosting interface exhibits a high degree of user-friendliness and thoughtful design, allowing effortless navigation and operations. The control panel enables clients to easily manage their hosting accounts and server, install add-ons, and execute necessary actions with little to no difficulty.
Pricing – 5: HostArmada offers a range of hosting plans to cater to the diverse needs of its customers. Their basic plan starts at $2.99 per month, offering 15 GB of SSD storage, 2 Cores CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and support for one website. HostArmada provides an advanced plan for $4.49 per month, which includes unlimited website hosting, 30 GB of storage, 4 Cores CPU, and 4 GB of RAM. Payment plans range from monthly to triennial. Customers can pay with credit cards or PayPal.
Reliability – 5: HostArmada’s platform is a reliable host for South Africans, with its 99.9% uptime rate powered by its outstanding server performance. They prioritize transparency and regularly update their technology and services. The platform uses double-layer cloud-based technology to provide reliability and website redundancy to its customers.
Additional parameter – On-Demand Website Optimization Solutions: Hostarmada provides on-demand, dedicated website optimization solutions to meet the loading speed requirements of every website hosted on their servers out-of-the-box.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Wide range of hosting options
- Excellent customer support
- Free SSL for all websites
- Free web server caches
- Free website migration
Cons:
- Limited resources on some plans
- Limited data centers
- No dedicated IP address
- The 45-day money-back policy does not apply to the monthly billing cycle
IONOS, formally named 1&1 IONOS, is a distinguished web hosting provider renowned for its affordable and trustworthy hosting solutions. They offer diverse hosting options, including easy-to-use web-building services and an intuitive website builder that streamlines the website development process without requiring specialized coding proficiency.
- Overall score: 4.9
- Features – 5
- Support – 5
- User-friendliness – 5
- Pricing – 4.7
- Reliability – 5
Features – 5: IONOS comes with robust features aimed at improving the websites of its clientele. These include SSL certificates, DDoS protection, 3x faster SSD drive, regular updates, 99.9% server uptime, and regular malware scanning.
Support – 5: IONOS offers round-the-clock customer support for resolving technical problems and inquiries. These services are accessible via telephone, email, or live chat.
User-friendliness – 5: IONOS provides hosting services that are user-friendly through the provision of a simplified control panel. It is easy for customers to build their websites and efficiently manage their domain names with IONOS.
Pricing – 4.7: IONOS offers affordable hosting plans starting at just $1/month with three categories of hosting plans – Start, Grow, and Boost. These plans have varying features, such as SSD storage, RAM, customizable updates, a free domain name, and SSL certificates.
Reliability – 5: IONOS provides dependable hosting services with a 99.9% uptime rate guarantee and exceptional security measures. IONOS offers high-quality hosting plans with cloud infrastructure and geo-redundancy, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted website performance.
Additional parameter – Cloud infrastructure & App installer: Through the adoption of cloud-based architecture, IONOS guarantees swift load times and uninterrupted access for its clients. Through a user-friendly one-click app installer, clients can easily install renowned applications, namely Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Maximum performance servers
- Strong security features
- Full data sovereignty
- Daily backups and easy recovery
Cons:
- Limited storage space
- Limited resources on some plans
- Limited data center locations
- Confusing pricing structure
HostGator is ahead of others with its powerful VPS hosting features with unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth, and cPanel access. Their VPS options allow you to host unlimited domains and create unlimited email addresses, databases, FTP accounts, & more.
- Overall score: 4.9
- Features – 4.9
- Support – 5
- User-friendliness – 4.9
- Pricing – 4.7
- Reliability – 4.9
Features – 4.9: HostGator offers SiteLock Security and weekly reports to monitor client data, fast CPU speed, free domain to first-time customers, full root access, 99.9% uptime, free SSL certificate, and free migrations, among many other excellent features. These features kickstart clients’ web hosting journeys. HostGator also provides effortless installations for renowned CMSs via a single click.
Support – 5: HostGator offers round-the-clock phone, email, and live chat assistance. Customers can access a broad knowledge base and video tutorials to resolve common issues. HostGator provides a mechanism for clients to lodge their support requests using a ticketing system.
User-friendliness - 4.9: HostGator’s website provides a clear presentation of its hosting packages and features, making it effortless to browse through. Their cPanel is intentionally designed to provide easy navigation, empowering clients to administer their hosting accounts and websites efficiently.
Pricing – 4.7: HostGator’s competitive pricing starts at $2.75 per month for their shared hosting plans for 1 site, 10GB space, unmetered bandwidth, and a cPanel. They accept credit cards, PayPal, checks, money orders, and bank wires as modes of payment. They also offer discounts for longer-term contracts and occasional promotional deals.
Reliability – 4.9: The reputation of HostGator lies in its dependable uptime and fast page loading rates, which are accomplished by utilizing SSD storage, optimized servers, and the Cloudflare content delivery network. Their hosting service stability is ensured by using modern data centers equipped with redundant power sources and network connectivity.
Additional parameter – E-commerce tools: One can benefit from HostGator’s shopping cart software for the seamless purchase of plans, secure payment gateways, and SSL certificates.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Reliable uptime
- Flexible hosting plans
- Easy-to-use interface
- Good customer support
- Free website migration
- Free Domain
Cons:
- Upselling
- Limited backups
Cloudways has one of the best and most efficient cloud hosting management features. The hosting service simplifies server management on major cloud providers like Google Cloud, AWS, Linode, Vultr, and DigitalOcean.
- Overall score: 4.8
- Features – 5
- Support – 4.7
- User-friendliness – 4.7
- Pricing – 4.6
- Reliability – 4.7
Features – 5: Cloudways uses top cloud providers for fast servers and reliable uptime. It has an easy-to-use control panel, built-in advanced cache, and Cloudflare (CDN) to ensure peak website performance. Built-in advanced caches, HTTP/2 supported servers, HTTP/3 support, and 3x SSD drives for faster application processing are some other features that Cloudways offers. With Cloudways, customers can quickly initiate applications like WordPress, Magento, and Drupal with a few clicks.
Support – 4.7: Cloudways offers round-the-clock customer assistance through various channels, such as live chat, phone, email, and support tickets. Their knowledge base includes informative articles and tutorials that cover a wide range of topics.
User-friendliness - 4.7: Cloudways has a user-friendly control panel, allowing easy management of servers, apps, and websites. Customers will not need advanced technical skills to access it. Users can quickly manage servers on a user-friendly platform.
Pricing – 4.6: Cloudways charges based on usage with a pay-as-you-go plan. Pricing varies by the cloud provider and resource needs, starting at $10/month for unlimited sites, 2GB space, 1TB bandwidth, and a custom panel. You can cancel your subscription anytime without a long-term commitment. Paypal, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Visa credit cards are accepted for payment on Cloudways.
Reliability – 4.7: With a guarantee of 99.9% uptime, Cloudways is renowned for its dependability. They employ sophisticated caching technologies like Varnish, Memcached, and Redis to guarantee quick loading times and efficient server performance. Advanced security measures are at your disposal, comprising IP whitelisting, application-level firewalls, and two-factor authentication.
Additional parameter – Server cloning and backups & Vertical scaling: By using Cloudways, you can effortlessly copy your servers and produce website backups, guaranteeing the preservation and safety of your information. Furthermore, you can quickly increase server resources with minimal effort through easy vertical scaling.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Multiple cloud providers
- Exceptionally versatile hosting plans
- Free hourly backups
- Only pay for what you use
Cons:
- No domain registration
- No email hosting
- Limited control
FastComet is recognized as a web hosting provider that caters to the hosting needs of individuals and businesses of varying sizes. They offer the most reliable and affordable shared WordPress hosting plan. This plan includes free domain registration and migration, cPanel & Softaculous, SSD, FastGuard WordPress security, brute force protection for all services, free WordPress transfer, daily backups & free backup restore e.t.c
- Overall score: 4.8
- Features – 4.8
- Support – 5
- User-friendliness – 4.9
- Pricing – 4.7
- Reliability – 4.8
Features – 4.8: FastComet offers free domain registration, advanced SSD storage, SSL certificates, daily backups, website builder, and top-notch security features, including firewall, malware removal, and constant monitoring. There’s also a 45-day refund guarantee.
Support – 5: With FastComet, you can access various support channels, such as live chat, phone, email, and a ticket system, to get the technical assistance you need. Their technical support team is highly knowledgeable and efficient in handling any technical problems or inquiries that you may have. You can rely on their exceptional customer service to provide timely and dependable assistance whenever you require it.
User-friendliness - 4.9: FastComet offers user-friendly hosting services with a simple control panel for managing accounts, domains, and website creation through drag-and-drop components and customizable templates.
Pricing – 4.7: FastComet offers hosting plans starting at $2.19/month for a single website and up to $4.39/month for multiple websites with 35GB SSD space and a 45-day money-back guarantee. They accept various payment methods and present customers with free website transfer and domain registration.
Reliability – 4.8: FastComet offers efficient and reliable hosting plans that ensure uninterrupted website operation through cloud-based infrastructure and conventional data documents. They introduced Imunify360 as a new security solution for customers’ growth.
Additional parameter – Softaculous installer: With FastComet, all customers, including South African clients, can swiftly and effortlessly install in-demand applications like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, thanks to their convenient one-click installer feature.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Free WordPress transfer
- Easy to manage and configure
- Reliable and secured
- Daily backups
Cons:
- Limited resources on some plans
- Limited payment options
- Confusing pricing structure
- Limited uptime guarantee
A2 Hosting offers a Turbo Server option for clients prioritizing excellent website performance and rapid page loading speeds. They provide Turbo plans with unbeatable features such as LiteSpeed Web Server, NVMe, hosting solutions with over 3X faster read/write speeds, and HTTP/3 web standard that provides faster and more reliable connections for websites and APIs.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Features – 4.9
- Support – 4.7
- User-friendliness – 4.7
- Pricing – 4.6
- Reliability – 4.7
Features – 4.9: A2 Hosting possesses optimized Turbo Servers to provide as much as 20x faster speed than regular hosting. They also offer free SSL certificates, HTTP/2 and SPDY protocols to improve website functionality, unlimited NVMe, free site migration, and automatic backups to power your web hosting journey.
Support – 4.7: A2 Hosting provides top-notch customer service featuring expert and friendly personnel that provide diverse support alternatives, including FAQs, live chat, phone assistance, and round-the-clock availability.
User-friendliness - 4.7: A2 Hosting offers a hosting solution that is uncomplicated to operate. It features an intuitive and uncomplicated control panel. One can easily customize using the website creator tool.
Pricing – 4.6: A2 Hosting’s plans range from $2.99/month and 100GB SSD storage to $14.99/month for unlimited websites and NVMe storage. Paypal, Skrill, and major credit cards are accepted. The package also features free site migration, money-back, and automatic backup.
Reliability – 4.7: A2 Hosting guarantees a 99.9% uptime and employs a blend of classic data centers and cloud infrastructure to ensure optimal performance and consistent uptime for customers’ websites. These features make their hosting plans highly reliable and efficient.
Additional parameter – Free CDN & unlimited storage and bandwidth: A2 Hosting provides its users a complimentary CDN in every plan to ensure rapid website loading. It also offers limitless storage and bandwidth to accommodate any user requirements.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Multiple data centers
- Free site migration
- Expert technical support
- Green web hosting
Cons:
- Limited resources on some plans
- No free domain
Hostinger offers hosting solutions to small, medium, and big businesses in South Africa to provide uninterrupted services to their clients. Their business hosting plan includes advanced features such as 100 websites, 200 GB SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth, all at an incredibly low monthly fee.
- Overall score: 4.6
- Features – 4.6
- Support – 4.7
- User-friendliness – 4.7
- Pricing – 4.6
- Reliability – 4.6
Features – 4.6: With Hostinger’s Premium or Business hosting, you will get a free domain for the first year, a feature also open to South Africans. Hostinger offers an easy-to-use control panel, expandable SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, malware scanner, Free SSL, up to 3GB RAM, and Cloudflare Protected Nameservers.
Support – 4.7: Hostinger allows clients or new users to reach them via live chat, a knowledge base, tutorials, and a special platform called ”Hosting Academy”. Although phone support is unavailable, their live chat function is efficient and fast.
User-friendliness - 4.7: Hostinger features a user-friendly and instinctive interface, simplifying the website set-up process for novices. With an interface that is easy to navigate, the control panel provides the convenience of quick installation of widely-used CMS platforms and a website creator.
Pricing - 4.6: Hostinger offers affordable hosting plans, starting at just $1.99 monthly for 1 website, 50GB SSD storage, 100GB bandwidth, and unlimited free SSL. There are also premium plans with additional features and resources for designing websites. Hostinger also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Paypal, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Visa credit cards are accepted for payment on Hostinger.
Reliability – 4.6: Hostinger provides unlimited SSL security certificates to encrypt your website’s traffic, protect your website from DDoS attacks, and guarantee 99.9% uptime with Litespeed and Cloudflare integration for swift website operation. They offer scalable and efficient cloud hosting options that every client can rely on
Additional parameter - One-click installer & High-speed servers: Hostinger provides a convenient one-click installer that lets users easily install well-liked applications like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Furthermore, they employ cutting-edge servers tailored to maximize speed and efficiency.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Free website builder
- Free domain name and SSL certificate
- Solid uptime and fast loading times
- User-friendly interface with a custom control panel
- Custom-built WP optimization stack & LiteSpeed cache
Cons:
- No phone support is available
- Limited resources on shared hosting plans
- Setup fee on lower plans
Top Web Hosting Services for South Africans: Final Recommendations
We have thoroughly assessed multiple web hosting services available in South Africa by considering several aspects, such as their features, prices, usability, dependability, and other relevant standards.
Due to its dependable services and extensive range of features, HostArmada stands out among these top web hosting options. Their service is open to individuals and businesses of any size and can be customized to meet their needs and budget requirements. If you’re a South African business owner looking for a reliable, adept, and reasonably priced web hosting service for your personal or business needs, FastComet is an excellent option.
Reseller Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting
Reseller hosting involves hosting websites for others using your allotted space and bandwidth. It’s like buying space from a bigger company and reselling it as your hosting. Examples of reputable reseller hosting are HostArmada, A2 Hosting, and Hostinger.
Dedicated hosting is a web hosting service where the client rents the entire server for exclusive use, with complete control over OS, hardware, and software configurations. IONOS, HostGator, and A2 Hosting are examples of dedicated server hosting.
Both Reseller hosting and dedicated hosting have common features: full authority over their hosting environment and resources, allowing the installation of customized software, and permitting the establishment of multiple websites. Also, both hosting options provide dependable and efficient hosting solutions well-suited for business websites with high traffic and resource requirements.
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
How Do We Rank, and How Should You Choose Your Web Hosting Provider?
- Price to Value Ratio10%
- Uptime, Speed, and Performance25%
- Features20%
- Ease of Use and Customer Support15%
- Brand Reputation30%
The above chart presents the percentage values indicating the significance of various factors in web hosting. The greater the weight, the more significant the factors are. Our rating is a result of user feedback, evaluation, and consideration.
Our experts regularly test web hosting products and value honest companies that deliver quality worldwide. At HostAdvice, we rank web hosting providers based on real-time testing and evaluation against the listed criteria:
Price to Value Ratio (10%): This feature includes plans, price ranges, freebies, trials, guarantees, and discounts for new/recurring customers compared to other hosting companies. For more understanding, check out our Web hosting pricing page.
Uptime, Speed, and Performance (25%): These comprise server number, quality, dispersion, uptime/downtime commitments, loading speeds, latency, CDN, security features, and add-ons availability.
Features (20%): These entail constraints in the plans (hardware type/amount), site numbers, traffic, CPU/RAM, bandwidth, server storage, domains, SSLs, backups, email, control panel, WordPress, OS, programming language compatibility, and more.
Ease of Use and Customer Support (15%): These include ease of navigation, control panel, assistance availability, staff skills, and response times for issue resolution.
Brand Reputation (30%): This involves our team’s proficiency, global client testimonials, consistency of service, various awards, and any previous web hosting-related issues.
